tirsdag 14. mars 2017

What's the link between a fallen tree and a kernel of wheat?

NORSK
It's really nice to have the opportunity to watch Norwegian TV via internet, and this weekend we watched "My nature" with a special focus on the forest. Trude Myhre took us to 'her forest' and with her background as a biologist she said: 

"It is in the moment the old tree falls and dies that the real life begins". 

She referred to the incredibly rich variety of species and life that finds a habitat in, on and off a dead tree. Since I was already in Easter preparation mode, I must admit that she pinpointed the Easter-message in an elegant way.
 

Several times in the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that his hour was not yet come. It is interesting that it was an incident with some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus, that seemingly triggered Jesus' statement:
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds"
John 12:23-24
There are two things from this incident that it is important for the understanding of Jerusalem as the birthplace of "all" people.
  1. The Greeks were Gentiles. When they wanted to meet Jesus, it was a signal that his message already had reached far beyond the small group of Jewish followers, and that also ‘outsiders’ would be able to grasp the mystery that would take place in Jerusalem some days later.
  2. The illustration with the kernel of wheat that dies to be able to bear fruit and new life, leads my thoughts in the direction of the new birth.
It also confirms the prophecy in Psalm 87; and there is more on the agenda for tomorrow.

Today 'manna':

The death of Jesus is the precondition for the start of new life
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